LONDON (Alliance News) - Zanaga Iron Ore Co Ltd Wednesday said it swung to a pretax loss from a substantial profit in the first half of 2015 and said it hopes it can secure financing for its project once the iron ore market stabilises.
The iron ore development miner said it swung to a USD4.0 million pretax loss in the first six months of 2015 from the substantial USD43.9 million profit a year ago. In the first half of 2014, it booked a USD45.5 million gain from selling down its stake in its flagship project to commodities giant Glencore PLC.
The company, which does not generate any revenue, also reported a USD2.7 million loss from its joint ventures, rising from the USD72,000 loss a year ago, partially offset by general expenses dropping to USD1.2 million from USD1.9 million.
The miner is developing the Zanaga iron ore project in the Republic of Congo and the company needs to secure financing to continue, and said although it "remains difficult", it believes the project will be at the "forefront of development opportunities when markets stabilise" following the crash in iron ore prices.
"Developments in the global iron ore market have affected and continue to affect the raising of finance for the development of the project. Once market conditions stabilise and become more favourable, it is our belief that the Zanaga Project is likely to be in a good position to compete for attracting the finance which is needed to enable the Project to be developed," it said.
Zanaga shares were up 4.7% to 2.25 pence per share on Wednesday.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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